Ruling gives Cuban father first victory in custody battle over girl, 5

September 30th, 2007 | Category: Miami Blog

“This case is going to be decided by the Third District Court of Appeal”

A Miami,Florida-Dade County juvenile court judge ruled Thursday that a Cuban man seeking custody of his 5-year-old daughter did not abandon or neglect the girl as alleged by state child welfare authorities, removing the first obstacle in the father’s effort to take his daughter back to Cuba.

Miami,Florida-Dade Circuit Judge Jeri B. Cohen is expected to begin hearing testimony next month on whether the father, Rafael Izquierdo, will get custody or whether to make the girl’s foster parents, Joe and Maria Cubas, her permanent guardians. The Department of Children & Families is expected

to argue that giving the girl to her father would endanger the child because it would separate her from the 13-year-old half-brother who has been a father figure to her and the foster family she has come to regard as her own. Read more

Tags: miami dolphins, cocunut grove, walt disney world, lake park, universal, naples, jacksonville jaguars, politics, boca raton, ft. lauderdale, north palm beach, cruise, fishing, tampa bay bucs, singer island, lantana, ft. myers, orlando magic, homestead, disney world